DCU Blog - June 2026 Edition: Supergirl Crashes, New Animated Shows And More

And we're halfway through 2026. This month sadly has been something of a mixed bag in terms of DC News but we move.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first - Supergirl (2026) has only grossed $63 million at the box office, making it one of the bigger losses for the WB this year.

It seems that the next DC film to possibly go into production could be the Deathstroke And Bane movie.

Spoiler hounds are arguing among themselves in regards to whether or not the DCU Batman has been cast.

Ana Nogueira has recently talked of developments for both her Wonder Woman and Teen Titans scripts.

Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) is currently half way through filming with some recent set pics of David Corenswet and Nicholas Holt having leaked.

Batman: Caped Crusader will be released on Amazon Prime from July 29th. Expect villains such as Riddler, Man-Bat and a female version of Mad Hatter.

A trailer for Batman: Knightfall Part 1 has been released. The movie will be released later in the year.

A synopsis for the animated Dynamic Duo (June 28th 2028) revealed that Dick and Jason will split when the former joins Batman and the latter joins the Red Hood Gang.

After an eternity, The Batman Part II (October 1st 2027) has started filming. 

Both James Gunn and John Cena have hinted about when Peacemaker will resurface in the DCU. Something tells me it's a lot sooner than expected.

Clayface (October 23rd 2026) is approximately one hour and fifty minutes according to recent test screenings. It doesn't feature Batman as of now.

David Jenkins has recently turned in the script for Booster Gold. It has yet to be greenlit.

Animated shows for Absolute Batman, Joker: Laugh Riot and Krypto have been announced.

My Adventures With Superman doesn't have a fourth season announcement as of yet. Season 3 is currently airing weekly.

Expect announcements for both Creature Commandos Season 2 and Mister Miracle very soon.

Filming for the Jimmy Olsen/Gorilla Grodd HBO Max series will start after filming of Man Of Tomorrow has completed. They're looking for actors from a comedy background for Grodd and one of the main roles will be for a lawyer.

And that's it for the month of June. Some mixed news this month but on we go.

My Review of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

 

Written by Tab Murphy

Directed by Lauren Montgomery 

Kara: "Little nervous, I guess. It's just, you have this life. You can be Clark, or Kal-El, or Superman. Even a son. Who am I going to be?"

Clark: "I can't answer that, Kara. Only you can. Whatever you decide, I'll be there for you. I promise."

Yesterday I reviewed Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, so of course the follow up was going to be next. Though I should say this movie was more focused on Supergirl (Summer Glau) and that's not a bad thing.

Supergirl's ship crash landed in Gotham City River and she caused a commotion in the city until Batman (Kevin Conroy) managed to detain her and Superman (Tim Daly) made his presence known to her. Not surprising was Superman being nicer to his cousin than Batman himself.

In the first half of the movie, Kara struggled with controlling her powers, was at odds with both Batman and Krypto, embraced certain aspects of posing as a human girl and even was overwhelmed with how Superman was seen by the public. Then the Amazons led by Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) felt she needed better training.

Sending Kara to Themyscira was the wisest move. She was starting to get her powers under control and even befriended Lyla/Harbinger (Rachel Quaintance). The latter had visions of Kara being in danger and sure enough, Darkseid (Andre Braugher) being interested in a new captain for his Furies made that clear.

The second half of this movie definitely was the highlight. We had Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman join up with Big Barda (Julianne Grossman) to rescue Kara from Apokolips. There's a great battle with Wonder Woman and Big Barda having to take on the likes of Granny Goodness (Ed Asner), Gilotina/Mad Harriet (Salli Saffioti), Stompa (Andrea Romano) and Lashina (Tara Strong). It's a rather brutal sequence.

Also brutal was Batman finding a way into manipulating Darkseid to relinquish his hols on Kara while the latter temporarily went against her cousin. Add a follow up battle with super cousins and Kara realised exactly what her destiny was supposed to be.

- Lex has officially been impeached and Gotham had security blimps flying over the city.

- Artemis went from being annoyed with Superman to having some respect for him during the fight with the Doomsday clones.

- We heard Vicki Vale, saw the Mister Miracle costume and Treasure was quickly defeated by the Furies.

- Chronology: Gotham City, Metropolis, Krypton, Apokolips, Themyscira and Smallville.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse was even better than the previous movie. The focus on Supergirl was a good move for this sequel and Darkseid/Furies were also used really well. I really enjoyed this sequel.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

DCU Blog - February 2026 Edition: WB/Paramount, Puppy Bowl And Little Else

Disappointingly enough, this wasn't the most eventful month for DC, except for maybe the future implication of a newly announced merger. Anyways, let's get on with it, shall we?

Warners Brothers have been bought by Paramount for $111 billion after Netflix decided to step aside and not match their offer.

Clayface will now be released on October 23rd. David Dencik has also been cast in an undisclosed role.

Man Of Tomorrow (July 9th 2027) is in pre-production. Filming will begin in April, so expect more cast announcements soon.

The recent Puppy Bowl put the focus on Krypto, including a clip from Supergirl (June 26th) showing a younger version of the character.

Junkie XL will now compose the music for Supergirl. He's previously composed Zack Snyder's Justice League.

The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) will start filming in late May. We'll be getting more casting soon.

The logo for upcoming HBO series, Lanterns was revealed this month. The show will premiere after the third season of House Of The Dragon has finished airing.

James Gunn has stated that The Brave And The Bold will come out before Matt Reeves does a third movie for The Batman universe.

DC Next Level will see releases for the likes of Zatanna, Batwoman, Lobo and Firestorm to name a few over the next few months.

The Absolute DC Universe comic books have continued to sell well, have warranted several reprints and will continue well into 2026.

Zack Snyder has recently expressed interest in continuing his Justice League through comics or animation. That's not saying it'll happen btw.

Quick reminder that we've got upcoming season of both of My Adventures With Superman and Batman: Caped Crusader to look forward to. Hopefully we'll get release dates for both in the next few weeks.

That's it for the month. Hopefully more exciting news for next month.

My Review of Wonder Woman (2011, NBC TV Pilot)

 

Written by David E. Kelley

Directed by Jeffrey Reiner

Diana (to Henry): "I never said to merchandise my tits."

Etta: "Wonder Woman isn't vulgar."

Yesterday I watched and reviewed the TV movie pilot for the Cathy Lee Crosby show that never happened. Now it was time to do the same to the NBC pilot starring Adrianne Palicki that also suffered the same fate. After watching, I can see why NBC chose not to continue.

To say this pilot episode was rough would be an understatement because it's fucking rough and often ridiculous. Sadly with the latter part, not in an entertaining way either. I found this to be quite a chore to watch.

First of all, Adrianne Palicki probably could've been an interesting version of the iconic character but there's so much here they doesn't work in her favour. Even for network TV, she's given not one but two very garish versions of her signature costume that looks like they had been pulled from a thrift store.

Then there's the overall characterisation. She's closer to the more mean spirited and harsh versions of Batman and was a bit too casual about torturing people for information and even killing security guards. This was all so she could get to the villain of the piece, Veronica Cale (Elizabeth Hurley), owner of Cale Anderson Pharmaceuticals. In some ways, Diana's almost no better than Veronica.

Diana's day job as Diana Themyscira, the CEO of Themyscira Industries had her mostly arguing about doll branding with her second in command Henry Detmer (Cary Elwes) and right hand woman, Etta Candy (Tracie Thoms). That was when she was publicly putting Veronica on blast and grudgingly working with police detective Ed Indelicato (Pedro Pascal).

Trundling through this episode, there's some horribly coordinated fight sequences, a young guy who's death propelled Diana into aggressive action and flashbacks detailing the break up of her relationship with Steve Trevor (Justin Bruening). Then Steve reappeared as part of the Justice Department and Diana realised he was engaged. She wasn't pleased about that news.

- Pedro Pascal would later go on to portray Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984 and yes that film's better than this pilot episode.

- We saw the Invisible Jet a few times in the episode as well as the Lasso. However we didn't see or hear anything about Themyscira. Cheetah was also name checked. There was also a Diana Prince alias too.

- Did Facebook pay them to promote their site so extensively? Dr Phil also had a cameo appearance in the episode.

- Chronology: Diana's currently located in Los Angeles with Steve having relocated there six months ago from New York.

That was a very ropey Wonder Woman pilot. In the space of 41 minutes I can see why this wasn't picked up as a series. There's just so much within it that didn't work and it likely would've cancelled after a few episodes had NBC even bothered to take it to a series.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Wonder Woman (1974, TV Movie)

 

Written by Vincent McEveety

Directed by John D. F. Black

Steve: "Oh Dee, you didn't tell me. When you finally caught up with him, how was your bout with the dentist?"

Diana: "Painful. A little."

In a different universe, Lynda Carter might not have been the definitive version of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Had this TV movie actually led to successful, it could've been Cathy Lee Crosby but things have a way of not working out.

Like the pilot movie that would come out a year after the release of this one, this ABC offering from 1974 kept things simple. If you're hoping for some iconic rogue gallery members, you're out of luck here. 

Instead you get a brief look at Diana's life in Paradise Island as her mother, Hippolyta (Charlene Holt) sent her to Man's World to make it a better place. This meant working as a secretary for Steve Trevor (Kaz Garas) and assuming the mantle of Wonder Woman.

The main plot for this pilot TV movie involved ten books being stolen from Rio De Janeiro, Paris, Berlin, Istanbul and London. They were stolen by the devious George Calvin (Andrew Prine) at the behest of the oddly charming Abner Smith (Ricardo Montalbán). That and the identities of thirty nine agents.

Abner wanted $15 million to be delivered to Nevada by donkey and George wanted to kill Diana. I mean, George really wanted to kill her and tried multiple times and failed each time. Even the assistance of rogue Amazon Ahnjayla (Anitra Ford) didn't exactly yield the results he wanted. 

As baddies, George was the most despicable of the bunch and his eventual downfall was rather satisfying. Abner on the other hand was almost too courteous in defeat. He was way too happy about being bested by Wonder Woman and even declared his love for her upon being arrested. It was very odd indeed.

- Diana was called Dee by both Steve Trevor and Bob (Jordan Rhodes). Diana's relationship with Steve was strictly professional.

- Kaz Garas who played Steve Trevor would appear in the Lynda Carter show as Lucas.

- Unlike the TV show, it seemed like everyone was aware that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person.

- Chronology: Present day and in multiple locations for the whole movie.

As a TV pilot episode, Wonder Woman could have maybe worked. I know Cathy Lee Crosby looked nothing like the character (and neither did her costume) but I thought she did fine in the part. A decent if not spectacular live action debut for the iconic character.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

DCU Blog - July 2025 Edition: Superman Soars, Supergirl First Poster, Wonder Woman Movie Fast Tracked

Yes, it's the end of July and with it, some of the most exciting stuff to happen in relation to DC. Oh, it's been a hell of a month.

As of now, Superman (2025) has made over $516 million worldwide at the box office. The movie's an undeniable hit. A digital release has yet to be confirmed.

Naomi Ackie has been cast as the female lead for Clayface (September 11th 2026). Filming will begin in the UK next month. 

Yet again, James Gunn has reaffirmed that Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU Batman. The Batman - Part II will film early next year for it's October 1st 2027 release.

James Gunn has also confirmed that The Brave And The Bold is still happening.

The first poster for Supergirl (2026) was released earlier this month. The movie will be released from June 26th 2026.

Luca Guadagnino has stepped away from Sgt. Rock. James Gunn has said the movie will happen with a new director.

James Gunn has confirmed that he won't be writing the second season of Creature Commandos.

The first in a series of an animated one shots for Krypto is rumoured to be coming out in September.

Ana Nogueira has been confirmed as the writer of the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. She's also still writing the Teen Titans movie, though that's on hold for a bit.

James Gunn and Zack Snyder parodied themselves in a recent episode of Rick And Morty.

Aztec Batman: Clash Of Empires will be released from September 19th.

Mattson Tomlin has hinted that he might be writing for another DC hero in a recent Twitter exchange.

The second season of Peacemaker (August 21st on HBO Max) will feature cameos from past and future DC characters. There's a podcast every Thursday and Monday from James Gunn and guests going over the first season.

Keeping with the awards buzz, The Penguin has been nominated for 24 Emmys.

David Jenkins will write and executive produce the pilot for Booster Gold. Kumail Nanjiani will not be playing the titular role.

Filming for Lanterns has wrapped. It'll air on HBO in the first half of 2026. The show will be John Stewart's story.

That's it for this month but things are certainly hotting up for DC right now.

DCU Blog - June 2025 Edition: Superman World Tour, The Batman Sequel Script Completed and Clayface Cast

When I say this was the busiest month for DC this year, I mean it. So much information came out. There's a lot to go over.

The World Tour for Superman (July 11th) kicked off with cast and crew visiting various countries to promote the movie.

Additional cast members for this movie include Bradley Cooper and Angela Sarafyan as Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. Alan Tudyk, Jennifer Holland, Michael Rooker, Pom Klementieff, Grace Chan and Michael Rosenblum will voice robots in the movie. Stephen Blackehart will also appear as Sydney Happersen.

Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow will now be titled Supergirl (June 26th 2026). The movie is currently in post production.

James Gunn has confirmed that a Wonder Woman film is in development being currently written. It'll be connected to prequel series, Paradise Lost.

After waiting for the longest time, Matt Reeves and Mattson Tomlin announced that the script for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) is now complete.

Meanwhile, James Gunn has confirmed that he's also working closely with the writer for The Brave And The Bold. 

A draft for the Deathstroke and Bane movie has been written. So far, that's it really.

Peacemaker Season 2 (August 21st HBO Max) will be the focus at Hall H for SDCC next month.

Tom Rhys Harries has been cast as Clayface (September 11th 2026). Filming will start in the UK in October.

James Gunn has also started writing his next film after Superman. I'm sure that'll be announced after next month.

Filming for Lanterns will be completed next month. The show will air on HBO in 2026.

It's also been confirmed that Waller is still in development and that a Teen Titans script is being written by Ana Nogueira.

Season 2 of The Sandman arrives this month on Netflix. Eps 1-6 from July 3rd, eps 7-11 from July 24th and a final special from July 31st.

Creature Commandos will air on Sky for UK/Irish viewers from July 8th at 2am/11pm respectively.

An R-Rated animated series for Mister Miracle is in development. Tom King will be involved with the show.

James Gunn has confirmed that there are complexities involving Static Shock. I wouldn't expect it anytime soon.

Now that Pride Month is coming to an end today, I thought I'd list my favourite LGBT characters. A Top 10 list so to speak. You won't be shocked by it. Here goes.

1) John Constantine

2) Harley Quinn

3) Red Robin (Tim Drake)

4) Poison Ivy 

5) Midnighter

6) Dreamer (Nia Nal)

7) Wonder Woman 

8) Catman

9) Apollo

10) Extrano

Well, that's it for the month of June. Next month is going to be DC at it's most crazy with the release of Superman.

Justice League Unlimited - Episodes 1-5 Reviews

Last month I watched and talked about all 52 episodes of Justice League. I was going to leave this follow up series for a while but I've changed my mind.

Episode 1: Initiation 

With the previous mostly being a mix of two and three part stories, this show mostly went on singular stories and this one introduced Green Arrow. He's been avoiding signing up to the Justice League but here, he found himself on a mission with Supergirl, John Stewart and Captain Atom in order to defeat a nuclear-powered robot rampaging across Eastern Asia. It's a fun introduction for the character with the brief of Black Canary being the incentive for Green Arrow to change his mind about joining up. 7/10

Episode 2: For The Man Who Has Everything 

There's a few Superman stories that tend to pop up in other media often enough and this would be another one of them. It's Superman's birthday and Batman and Wonder Woman have presents for him. However Mongul got there first and with a parasitic creature, Superman got placed in a world where Krypton survived, his parents survived and both him and Lois/Lana hybrid were married and had a son. Of course, it would take a lot to snap Superman out of his idyllic false life and when he did, it didn't end particularly well for Mongul. 8/10

Episode 3: Kid Stuff

In the previous show, we got a good two parter with Morgaine Le Fay and Mordred and they're back here but not on the same team. In fact, Mordred's grown tired of his mother pulling his strings and used the Amulet of First Magic to remove all adults from Earth and rule over every child on the planet. This meant Morgaine reluctantly forming an alliance with the Justice League to stop her son. There's a good portion of the episode with the Justice League as children before they eventually got the better of Mordred. Mordred's final defeat was horribly fitting for the character. 7/10

Episode 4: Hawk And Dove 

Probably my least favourite episode so far, which despite the introduction of the title characters, it was also a Wonder Woman focused episode. An episode where she's angry at a petty criminal but needed to recruit the title characters in order to stop Ares from stirring up a civil war in Europe while getting himself a new ally in the Annihilator from Hephaestus. Fans of The Wonder Years will recognise the voices of both Hawk and Dove but this was a rather dull episode. 4/10

Episode 5: This Little Piggy 

Two Wonder Woman focused episodes in a row? What a treat but while the last one was a dull debut for a duo, this one introduced one of Diana's best enemies and then benched Diana for most of the time. The villain being Circe who got paroled from the Underworld and turned Wonder Woman into a pig. While Diana was on the loose, it was up to Batman and Zatanna to strike a deal with Circe in order for the witch to turn Wonder Woman back into her normal self. Add some unexpected singing and an amusing cameo from Medusa and I really loved this one. 9/10

Next blog I'll tackle Fearful Symmetry, The Greatest Story Never Told, The Return, Ultimatum and Dark Heart.

DCU Blog - May 2025 Edition: Superman Promo Kicks In, Peacemaker Role Revealed and Comics Crossover Alert

This was certainly a month for a lot of DC news. Sadly there's one piece of bad news but the rest was definitely something worth celebrating.

The promotion for Superman (July 11th) has well and truly kicked in. We got a brand new trailer, photoshoots with David Corenswrt and Nicholas Hoult, merchandise reveals and a World Tour coming from June 19th onwards.

Apparently a draft for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) has been completed. Filming will commence in early 2026.

Lauren LeFranc has recently confirmed that other spin offs beyond The Penguin are currently in development.

Filming for Clayface will start in October with the movie still confirmed for September 11th 2026 theatrical release.

Filming for Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (June 26th 2026) has now wrapped. Some filming pics did give vague looks at both Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa's respective looks for Supergirl and Lobo.

Bad news is that Luca Guadagnino's Sgt. Rock movie, which would've had Colin Farrell in the title role and Mike Faust in an undisclosed role has been put on hold. It may be picked up for filming next summer.

Some concept art for Dynamic Duo (June 30th 2028) did surface online yesterday. I'd post them but I'd like to not to have my blog striked. 

Keanu Reeves, according to Peter Stormaire isn't happy with the progress of the Constantine sequel script. At this point, just pull the plug on this idea.

A trailer for the second season of Peacemaker (August 21st on HBO Max) has confirmed that Sean Gunn, Nathan Fillion and Isabela Merced will reprise their roles as Maxwell Lord, Guy Gardner and Hawkgirl in the series. Michael Rooker will play Red St. Wild, who will be an enemy of Eagly.

Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito will be on the upcoming season of Actors on Actors. Their episode will premiere June 2nd on YouTube.

James Gunn did seem to give some encouraging updates on Wonder Woman when asked online. Paradise Lost is still being written.

At least two Teen Titans movies are in development. One for the DCU (though they're to decide who the Robin will be) and the other will be an animated one set in the Teen Titans Go! Universe.

DC/Marvel comic book fans can enjoy a Batman/Deadpool six part crossover event from September. Another crossover event with other characters will release in 2026.

The 2025 DC Pride issue will come out on June 4th. However, this issue will feature an interconnected story focusing on a century old LGBTQ+ tavern in Gotham City. 

Lanterns will premiere on HBO in early 2026, before the release of Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow. Filming is still currently active and there's a casting rumour, I'm holding back on but will discuss next month if it's true.

James Gunn has confirmed that the next movie he's writing is something that hasn't been previously announced. World's Finest has been rumoured a lot.

This was definitely a great month for DCU news, minus one particular set back. 

Justice League (2001-2004) - Episodes 39-52 Reviews

Heading into the latter half of this second season, there was some surprise alliances, betrayals and oh, a little bit of Christmas cheer to boot.

Episodes 39-40: Eclipsed 

Ah, Eclipso. If you wanted someone to bring out the worst in nearly all of the Justice League, then he's the guy to do it. Trapped in an ancient lunar crystal called the Black Heart, it's discovery led to Eclipso's freedom and various Justice League members being possessed by him. Of course, The Flash managed to be resistant to his charms and it was the Flash that also saved his teammates from a weapon that would destroy both the Sun and the Earth. It's a pretty solid story. 6/10

Episodes 41-42: The Terror Beyond 

The first in a series of unlikely team ups, this two parter had Solomon Grundy working with Doctor Fate and Aquaman. The latter two need Grundy's help in taking down an ancient evil and Grundy's willing to go along with it for his own reasons. On the opposite side was Superman, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, who didn't like the idea of Grundy being used for Doctor Fate and Aquaman's plan. It's a strong story for Solomon Grundy, who's made into a more layered character with a poignant sacrifice to boot. 7/10

Episodes 43-44: Secret Society 

Gorilla Grodd had his moment back in the first season going up against the Justice League and now he's assembled a team. His team comprising of Giganta, Killer Frost, Sinestro, Parasite, Shade, and Clayface. They formed the Secret Society and they were also successful in capturing a quarrelling Justice League. I do find it interesting that throughout the series, we've had various takes on a bad Justice League with Shade being a consistent member in an ever changing team up. Grodd made for a good team leader before the Secret Society were inevitably defeated. 7/10

Episodes 45-46: Hereafter

Death of Superman, anyone? Yes, we're doing that but not quite. For the majority of this story, it was assumed by the Justice League that Superman has perished. This was after a new supervillain team composed of Metallo, Kalibak, Livewire, Weather Wizard, and Toyman. Instead he ended up in a different time zone where he teamed up with a reformed Vandal Savage to get back to his own time to reunite with his team and stop Savage in the present day. On the other hand, we almost had Lobo as a new Justice League member and he was rather fun in this story. 8/10

Episodes 47-48: Wild Cards

If Lex Luthor could get a returning villain story, then I guess Joker could too. Teamed up with Harley Quinn and the Royal Flush Gang, this story took place in Las Vegas where Joker's planted a lot of bombs over the Las Vegas Strip for good measure. There's a reference to an infamous Conrad Veidt movie that should make Joker fans smile as well as a nice attempt to give some backstory to the character of Ace. Honestly though, it felt like an idea that never got made for Batman: The Animated Series and was slightly retooled to work for here. 7/10

Episode 49: Comfort And Joy

I do love a good Christmas episode and I really, really loved this one. It's that time of year when even the Justice League are allowed to be off duty and as a result, we got three very satisfying stories. First of all, there was Hawkgirl and John Stewart choosing to relax by going to an alien bar and getting into a brawl. There was also snow fights and a kiss between the two of them. Then there was The Flash who wanted to get a popular toy for the kids in a children's home. This resulted in a rather team up with the Ultra-Humanite where the latter discovered his Christmas spirit. As for Superman, he brought Martian Manhunter home to Smallville and that contained two of the best scenes. The realisation that Superman still believed in Santa Claus and Martian Manhunter's singing at the end. I do wish we had gotten a Batman and Wonder Woman story but overall, this was a beautiful episode. 9/10

Episodes 50-52: Starcrossed 

The show started with a three part story, so it was fitting that it would end with one as well. It also started with an invasion, so ending with one would also be fitting. This time around, it was the Thanagarians with Hawkgirl's betrayal being revealed to the team. Hawkgirl has never been as prominent as she was in this story. There was her conflict in betraying the family she's made on Earth for the one she was born into. There was her burgeoning relationship with John Stewart and her past one with Hro Talak, who was pretty bad. As for the gang, they were captured, escaped, revealed their civilian identities, defeated the Thanagarians but also banished Hawkgirl. A bittersweet ending of sorts for the show. 8/10

I will hopefully get around to tackling Justice League Unlimited at a later date. 

Justice League (2001-2004) - Episodes 27-38 Reviews

Now for the first half of the second season, we've got the likes of Darkseid, Lex Luthor, Doctor Destiny and Despero causing all manners of trouble for the gang.

Episodes 27-28: Twilight 

Last time we saw Darkseid, he was being a right menace on Superman: The Animated Series. This time, instead of trying to brainwash the Man of Steel, he needed the latter's help, along with the Justice League. Now, why would Darkseid need their help? Well, he had a problem in the shape of Brainiac but even with that knowledge, Superman rightfully didn't trust him. Of course Darkseid would betray the Justice League but it did lead to another great fight scene between him and Superman. This two parter also brought in New Gods such as Highfather, Orion and Lightray. 8/10

Episodes 29-30: Tabula Rasa 

And he's back. Yes, you're never too far away from Lex Luthor and while his schemes to kill Superman continue to be a bust, he had other plans. One of them was reminding Mercy that even though he left her LexCorp while in prison, it's still his company. Then there was Amazo. Lex manipulated the android into seeing him as a father figure. Eventually, Amazon saw through Lex and departed Earth. There's a good subplot with Martian Manhunter's powers amplifying as he dealt with having to hear so many thoughts. 7/10

Episodes 31-32: Only A Dream

An early contender for one of the strongest stories in this second season. You have got John Dee awaiting parole from prison. He's not happy that his ex-girlfriend moved on quickly from him with a new guy. John Dee decided to overdose on an experimental treatment and transform himself into Doctor Destiny. In this guise, Doctor Destiny went out of his way to terrorise all of the Justice League until the same methods of terror would bd eventually turned on him. There's some supporting roles for the likes of Solomon Grundy, Firefly, Volcana, Luminus and Copperhead. One of the creepier stories and a brilliant one too. 9/10

Episodes 33-34: Maid Of Honor

This two parter brought up something interesting. While Batman and Superman know each others identities, to my surprise, Wonder Woman was unaware that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person. I find it interesting between there was some Batman/Wonder Woman and Bruce/Diana scenes that bordered on the flirtatious. There was also the return of Vandal Savage, who was engaged to Diana's new friend, Audrey, the princess of Kasnia. Savage was up to no good and Wonder Woman had a battle on her hands trying to convince Audrey how bad her future husband really was. It's an okay second outing for Vandal Savage as a villain. 6/10

Episodes 35-36: Hearts And Minds

As much as I like John Stewart on this show, so far, I'll admit that the Green Lantern focused stories have been a bit average at best. This one was no different as John reunited with former lover, Karma Tui along with other Lanterns such as Kilowog. The latter in particular didn't have the greatest of patience for The Flash but John Stewart and the Justice League were needed to rescue the Green Lantern Corps from Despero. The latter's used pretty decently in this story and there's some nice moments between John Stewart and Hawkgirl but it's rather weak for me. 6/10

Episodes 37-38: A Better World

This show really does love delving into alternative realities and this was another look into that. Imagine a world with the Justice Lords. They're like our Justice League but their Flash died and they're more willing to kill in order to maintain order. Their Batman was also clever enough to create a method of dimensional travel and intended to replace the Justice League. Because of this, the Justice League had to team up with Lex Luthor in order to send the Justice Lords back to their own dimension. It's a very strong two parter, though previous alternative reality ones have been stronger. 8/10

Next blog I'll conclude the series by covering Eclipsed, The Terror Beyond, Secret Society, Hereafter, Wild Cards, Comfort And Joy and Starcrossed.

Justice League (2001-2004) - Episodes 14-26 Reviews

In the second half of this season, we're introduced to Etrigan and Metamorpho as well as exploring alternate worlds.

Episodes 14-15: The Brave And The Bold 

With earlier two parters focusing on both Superman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman, it was time to give The Flash some focus. When he wasn't trying to charm young women, he was going up against one of his biggest enemies. Yup, I'm talking about Gorilla Grodd (Powers Boothe) and here, he's got a scheme to destroy Gorilla City. It meant that the League had to team up with Solovar (David Ogden Stiers) in order to stop Grodd from succeeding. Grodd's comeuppance in particular was rather grim for him. 6/10

Episodes 16-17: Fury

I like that we didn't have to wait too long for either a Wonder Woman or another Injustice focused story. With this story, the Injustice Gang were now being led by rogue Amazon named Aresia (Julie Bowen). When she wasn't getting Copperhead, The Shade and Solomon Grundy to do the heavy lifting with her schemes, she formed a sisterhood with Star Sapphire and Tsukuri (Karen Maruyama). Aresia however had some interesting facets to her. The first being that she wasn't an Amazon by birth but a casualty of World War II and adopted by them. She also had a scheme to wipe out the male population and had no problem using testing her deadly virus on Superman to prove a point. 8/10

Episodes 18-19: Legends

The first of two alternative times, anyone? In this one, Martian Manhunter, John Stewart, Hawkgirl and The Flash accidentally transported to a parallel world and discover the Justice Guild of America, who are comic book characters in the Justice League's world. The Guild comprising of The Green Guardsman (William Katt), Black Siren (Jennifer Hale), The Streak (David Naughton), Tom Turbine (Ted McGinley), and Cat Man (Stephen Root) as well as their mascot, Ray Thompson (Neil Patrick Harris). This was a story that took many surprise turns, both in terms of the truth about the Guild but moreso Ray and the real villain itself. 9/10

Episodes 20-21: A Knight Of Shadows

How about a two part story with some focus on Martian Manhunter, a look into Arthurian legends and the introduction of Jason Blood/Etrigan (Michael T. Weiss). In flashbacks, Jason and Etrigan's origin story played out as their lover, Morgaine Le Fay (Olivia d'Abo) betrayed them. In the present day, both Morgaine and her son, Mordred (Soren Fulton) are in search of the Philosopher's Stone. This put Etrigan into an uneasy alliance with the Justice League while the troublesome stone proved to be too tempting for Martian Manhunter. There's also some nice Easter Eggs, courtesy of a costume party not to mention a thinly veiled reference to Hugh Hefner of all people. 7/10

Episodes 22-23: Metamorphosis 

The penultimate story went with another hero introduction and origin story. This time, it would be John Stewart's old friend, Rex Mason (Tom Sizemore). He's working for businessman Simon Stagg (Earl Boen) while not so secretly dating Stagg's daughter, Sapphire (Danica McKellar). Simon's resentment over the couple as well as Rex asking the wrong question had Stagg using Rex for his Metamorphosis experiment. Rex became Metamorpho, initially clashed with John Stewart before becoming a hero and saving the city from a Synthoid (Dee Baker) that seemed to be Chemo in all but name. 7/10

Episodes 24-26: The Savage Time 

Ah yes, after the brilliance of Legends, could a second alternative world story work so quickly? Actually, yes it could. Thanks to Vandal Savage (Phil Morris), the world has changed so that the other side won World War II. In this world, Batman seems to be the only existing hero leading a resistance force that had Dick Grayson and Barbara as a couple and Tim Drake in the mix. Then we had the gang tracking Savage in the 1940s. This meant giving us characters like Steve Trevor (Patrick Duffy), Sgt. Rock (Fred Dryer) and Blackhawk (Robert Picardo) to name a few. This three parter was a nice treat for fans of the Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor relationship while Vandal Savage was a good choice for a finale villain. An excellent ending for the first season. 9/10

Next blog I'll tackle Twilight, Tabula Rasa, Only A Dream, Maid Of Honour, Hearts And Minds and A Better World.

Justice League (2001-2004) - Episodes 1-13 Reviews

Years ago, I reviewed Batman: The Animated Series, it's continuations as well as Superman: The Animated Series. This was imminent, so here goes.

Episodes 1-3: Secret Origins

The series opened with a three part story with the title group only forming properly towards the end of this. You've got Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Superman (George Newbern) on relatively friendly terms. Somewhat established as active players were The Flash (Michael Rosenblum), John Stewart (Phil LaMarr) and Hawkgirl (Maria Canals-Barerra). Then the events of this story saw Wonder Woman (Susan Eisenberg) leaving Themyscira to help out. As for the story itself, there was the introduction of Martian Manhunter (Carl Lumbly) and invaders from Mars that very nearly managed to take over the Earth, had it not been for our seven heroes. It's a strong opening story that established our heroes pretty well. 8/10

Episodes 4-5: In Blackest Night 

With the first story being more of a character set up, this second story was a two parter focused on John Stewart being on trial on Oa. His supposed crime? Apparently he blew up a planet and despite John protesting his innocence and The Flash being firmly in his corner. Of course, it's obvious that John didn't do but this story certainly kept him in the firing line for as long as possible. Eventually it was revealed that Kanjar Ro and the robotic Manhunters did the deed in order to steal a Green Lantern power battery. Not one of my favourites but a solid story. 6/10

Episodes 6-7: The Enemy Below 

With the first two stories exploring both Earth and space, it's nice that the third one went to Atlantis. Yup, we got Aquaman (Scott Rummell) and he was certainly an abrasive character, who clashed with the League. He's also happily married to Mera (Kristin Bauer), has a son named Arthur Jr. Then there's Orm (Richard Green). The latter was scheming to take over Atlantis, managed to nearly kill the Justice League and his brother, before the latter cut his own hand off to save his son and reclaim his kingdom. There's also a brief supporting role for Deadshot (Michael Rosenblum) in this one too. 7/10

Episodes 8-9: Injustice For All

If you're going to have a Justice League, then of course you need it's counterpoint. Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown) knew that, so he enlisted Ultra-Humanite (Ian Buchanan), Solomon Grundy (Mark Hamill), Cheetah (Sheryl Lee Ralph), Star Sapphire (Olivia d'Abo), Copperhead (Efrain Figueroa) and The Shade (Stephen McHattie). Then the Joker (Mark Hamill) also inserted himself into the team. As a group, they nearly worked. They came close to actually taking out the Justice League but too much infighting and divided loyalties ultimately derailed them as a team. Lex not being a likeable leader also didn't help. 8/10

Episodes 10-11: Paradise Lost 

Ah, it was time for Wonder Woman to get some much needed focus. The start of the story had her going through her excuses for leaving Themyscira, only to find her mother, Hippolyta (Susan Sullivan) and the rest of the Amazons frozen as stone statues. Felix Daisy (Robert Englund) emerged as being responsible and he quickly forced Wonder Woman's hand in retrieving magical artificats for him. Eventually Wonder Woman needed to get help from the rest of her current team. As for Faust, he somewhat took a backseat when Hades (Jonathan Rhys-Davies) emerged as the bigger problem for both Wonder Woman and Hippolyta. The story ended on a very bittersweet note. 9/10

Episodes 12-13: War World 

My least favourite two parter so far. One one hand, I'm happy that we have a two parter that's very Superman focused. On the other hand, I just don't greatly care for Warworld or even Mongul (Eric Roberts) as a character. These Fight Club type stories don't really do it for me and this one didn't either. It's a fairly plodding story, even when Mongul played on Superman's morality in order to mess with Warworld's eventual successor, Draaga (William Smith). 5/10

Next blog I'll tackle The Brave And The Bold, Fury, Legends, A Knight Of Shadows, Metamorphosis and The Savage Time.